Short Summary

The Milluni Tin Mine, about 30 miles as the condor flies from La Paz, Bolivia, was the center of the recent unrest in that country.

Description

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L.S. Mine
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Soldiers walk past camera to mine
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C.U. Sign in Spanish on wall
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Women reading
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C.U. Sign in Spanish on wall
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Street soldiers walking
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Burton talking with men
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Burton walking with men
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Woman with baby on back watching
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Burton watching kids jumping rope
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C.U. Burton, pan down and children
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Initials

Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: The Milluni Tin Mine, about 30 miles as the condor flies from La Paz, Bolivia, was the center of the recent unrest in that country. It is owned by a British firm and managed by a British resident manager.

The tin mine at Milluni is owned by Fabulosa Mines Consolidated, a British firm. Its supervisor is 22-year-old John Clive Burton from Westover House, Milford-on-Sea, Lymington, Hampshire. Mr. Burton attended the Camborne School of Mines in Cornwall. In our film, Mr. Burton is the young man wearing glasses.

The mine at Milluni was the stronghold of the miners who staged a general strike against the Bolivian government last month. It is situated at an altitude of 14,300 feet in the Andes. Early in the general strike, the Milluni miners seized five Bolivian air force soldiers and held them as hostages. By tying them to the mine's powerful radio installation, a threatened bombing attack by the air force was averted.

On May 24, the Milluni miners attacked an air force patrol at the La Paz Airport, precipitating a battle in which 45 were killed and 130 wounded.

The mine appears back to normal now that the strike has been settled. A few soldiers can be see patrolling it. Evangelist signs in Spanish, placed on the walls at Milluni by missionaries, are still in evidence. Our correspondent discovered Mr. Burton watching Indian children skipping rope, and commented, "Oranges and lemons on top of the world."
The mine's name is pronounced: Mill-YOU-knee.